Betting troubles for French football

French professional football players will be a little more careful about placing bets on games following the news that the Ligue de Football Professionel (LFP) is investigating reports that up to 87 of the registered 1,600 players have placed bets…some of them on games in which they were playing.

Under LFP and Fédérational Française de Football regulations professional footballers are not permitted to bet on LFP matches.

The allegations against the 87 players come against a background in which strenuous efforts have been made by governing bodies to educate LFP players on the regulations.

The professional bodies involved have insisted that there is no indication that fraud or match fixing have been involved in the wagering, although it is believed that as many as 23 players actually bet against their own clubs, five on matches in which they were playing.

The 87 players under investigation include 19 professional footballers from Ligue 1; 54 from Ligue 2 and 14 from the National (third division). The average amount gambled was Euro 20, but in 14 cases players are said to have wagered over Euro 500.

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